Increasingly there is market demand to reduce the costs of providing intravenous and subcutaneous administrations. Programmable pumps that control the rate of flow of a therapy are effective but the cost may be prohibitive for many users. Constant-pressure pumps have been found to be safer and are more financially accessible to users, however, they lack some of the versatility of programmable flow rate control pumps. For a constant-pressure pump, when a certain flow rate is desired, the user may select tubing with an appropriate pre-set flow rate. The market offers a wide range of needle systems and different tubing sets. However, if a user would like to vary the flow rate, i.e., increase or decrease the flow rate, over the course of administration or over the course of use of a therapy, their options are limited.
One option the user has is to stop administering the therapy and replace the pre-set flow tubing with other tubing that provides a different flow rate. This solution may result in contamination and is susceptible to user error as the user removes and replaces the tubing with new tubing. In addition, the user is limited to the pre-set flow rate of the tubing and if a new flow rate is desired, the tubing would need to be switched yet again. For example, if a user desires to start administration with a slow infusion rate and gradually increase over the course of the administration, the pre-set flow-rate tubing would need to be switched out multiple times to achieve the user's needs.
The present methods of subcutaneous administration with pre-set flow tubing lack the versatility needed by users. A subcutaneous method of administration that is affordable and allows the user to vary the rate of administration with ease is needed.